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Before the plenum, demands for a repudiation of the Cultural Revolution increased, especially by those who were persecuted during Mao Zedong's last year. In October 1976, the radical Gang of Four led by Mao's widow Jiang Qing was arrested, and Deng Xiaoping himself—Mao's chief rival from 1975 to 1976—was officially rehabilitated in 1977.

Although Hua Guofeng, who succeeded as Chairman of the Communist Party of China and "the great helmsman," in 1976, tried to carry on the Maoist rhetoric and to gain an authority like that of Mao's. He also allowed the rehabilitation of many of Deng's allies, who, calling for economic reform, then revolted against him. During the 1978 working conference held in November, preparing for the plenum, Chen Yun raised the "six issues"—Bo Yibo, Tao Zhu, Wang Heshou and Peng Dehuai; the 1976 Tiananmen Incident; and Kang Sheng’s errors—to undermine the leftists. At the same conference, Deng said it was necessary to go over ideological barriers.

Trying to distance from the Cultural Revolution practice which put politics before the economy, the Third Plenary Session argued that extensive criticism campaigns against Lin Biao and the Gang of Four were to be abandoned in favour of a greater attention to economics. The "Four Modernizations" of industry, agriculture, national defence and science-technology were considered the Party's key tasks for the new period. Former PresidentLiu Shaoqi's theory that under socialism, mass class struggle came to an end, and it was necessary to develop relations of production in order to follow the growth of social forces, was openly endorsed, while Mao's theory of continued revolution under socialism was abandoned. Changes in economic management were called for.

The new slogan was to "make China a modern, powerful socialist country before the end of this century".

Although it did not take any open resolution against Mao, the Plenary Session attacked his leadership, implying that it did not guarantee full democracy or collective leadership. Particularly, it criticized the use of issuing Mao's "instructions", as it was said that "No personal view by a Party member in a position of responsibility, including leading comrades of the Central Committee, is to be called an 'instruction.'" It also put an end to the extensive personality cult towards Mao and Hua, even going as far as to avoid using the titles "Chairman Mao" and "Chairman Hua".

Despite its great relevance in advancing Deng Xiaoping's ideas and leadership, during the Third Plenary Session no critical or substantial reshuffle occurred, as opposed to the Sixth Plenary Session held in 1981 when Hua Guofeng was removed from his posts. Important additions were made, however.